Sunday December 04, 2016

Smartphone and device makers can’t get enough of the stuff and it’s driving prices up; both MLC and TLC NAND prices have risen as high as 10 percent. Don’t hold your breath when it comes to paying less for an SSD, particularly newer models.

Specialized research outfit DRAMeXchange (via CTimes) says that we might have to pay increasingly steep prices for SSD storage in the coming months. The relationship between demand and supply is a well known principle of economics - and apparently there is very robust demand for NAND from smartphone and device makers. This has caused NAND flash prices to rise in Q3 2016. If the above pressure on pricing wasn't enough, there looks to be a perfect storm brewing to push NAND prices higher. DRAMeXchange also reports that the technological transition from 2D NAND to 3D NAND manufacturing has reduced the industry's overall output. It is unclear how long these effects will last and continue to exert their upwards price pressure.